Today, we feature one of Zidicircle’s Spring 2021 entrepreneurs, Caroline Kamya, the proprietor and CEO of I AM NATIV.
I AM NATIV ( NATIV for short) is a platform and organization that focuses on unleashing the talent of African creatives with the use of SaaS via the global internet. They are connecting buyers from all over the world with top-end media crew and related professionals in Africa. NATIV is a freelance service platform curating a network and marketplace for professional African media crew and associated creatives. With Africa in mind, NATIV is a place where creatives sell their services and content to buyers in an environment that is: Safe, secure and mobile-ready. NATIV is located in Kampala, Uganda & Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
We asked Caroline Kamya a series of questions, whose answers we hope you, our Zidicircle community, will find enlightening, insightful, inspiring and motivating.
Q: What is the name of your business?
I AM NATIV
Q: What does your venture do?
IAM NATIV brings talented media creatives (such as crew members) and buyers of services together on one platform to buy and sell freelance audio and visual services from Africa.
As I have worked on both sides as a seller and buyer of media services for the production of media content such as documentaries and TV commercials, I have a wealth of knowledge and awareness of some of the opportunity and pain points that are involved in this market.
Customers who want to sell their services globally will find great benefit in signing up and subscribing to the platform and buyers who are searching for a reliable space to access services and content from media crew in Africa will find it in one location and be able to pay them directly.
There is a huge need for African creative services and products such as film, tv, documentaries and promos filmed on the African continent for domestic and foreign markets. With mobile money becoming the preferred banking method, we overcome this barrier by making it fast and efficient to work with and pay for these services on one space.
What we are selling are freelancers services and content from media crew working and residing in Africa to a local and global market.
Q: What is the history of your business?
I am an award-winning filmmaker. I have run and owned a production company since 2004 which is based in Europe, with an office in Africa.
Having been trained at the BBC and HBO, I have over 17 years of work experience in making tonnes of content, e.g. promos, commercials etc. I have done this for brands, ad agencies, NGO’s and so on, in Africa and Europe. Some of these companies include drinks companies, telecoms, airlines as well as making the first feature by a Ugandan woman that helped to open some doors to the burgeoning industry.
Q: How did the idea for I AM NATIV come about?
I AM NATIV came about due to timing, my work in Europe and Africa, trying to find crew to work on Projects fast, and being proud to be a “native” of Africa.
As I worked in Europe focusing on content in Africa, I noticed that my business formula could be duplicated to scale to unleash the talent in Africa and use fintech to make this streamlined.
Q: What would be your 3 key pieces of advice from your journey to fellow entrepreneurs?
- Keep positive, any idea has its ups and downs
- Keep distilling your vision -the more you work on it the tighter it is before you build it
- Take on constructive critiques, listen more than speak to your target group
Q: What triggered you to take part in the Zidicircle Bootcamp?
The Bootcamp has a focus on Africa and Africa diaspora and my project focuses on African talent, the mentors have a strong track record and background so I can access advice. Opportunities for funding is also attractive to me as a startup.
Q: What have you learnt so far from the program and how have you applied the lessons learnt? Give examples.
So far, all areas have been very useful from concept – to pricing. Using Miro as a virtual board has been quite helpful as well as interactive aspects to the session sharing with other entrepreneurs.
Q: Where do you see I AM NATIV in 3 years’ time? And what will it take for you to get there?
In 3 years, my business will be a global go-to platform for African creatives. At least 1 million creatives in Africa will be using the platform to earn and collaborate successfully and over 6 million sales from customers buying their services and content. I see it as the GO TO PLATFORM for media companies who want virtual services from top-end crew from Africa.
Q: What’s the greatest need for your business at this moment?
At the moment we have a funding need of $250, 000 that will help in Operations, Marketing & Advertising, Pre- Onboarding Training of creatives Scaling, Maintenance, Customer & Client acquisition, Regional Scaling, Continuous R&D and App development. We have been very lucky to have 3 early-stage investors on board already.
I am also looking for a mentor.
Q: Would you recommend the program to other entrepreneurs? Why?
Yes, I do recommend it. It has good facilitators and experts with a strong background, it is also interactive.
Q: Do you have any advice for other starting entrepreneurs?
My advice for other starting entrepreneurs: Do it if it’s your passion and you will do it even when the journey gets hard, get advice and mentorship.
Q: How can interested parties find you?
Email me – caroline@ceekayfilms.com / caroline@iamnativ.com / caroline.kamya@gmail.com
For any other correspondence about our programmes email contact@zidicircle.com